1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to practice pads for practicing drumming and, in particular, to an improved pad construction and method of production thereof which gives a more durable, sound-muffling pad having a more realistic response or "feel" as can be appreciated by the advanced player.
2. Description of the Background
Drum practice pads offer drummers a way of practicing by which noise is reduced to an acceptable level. However, quality practice time is best spent with a pad that realistically duplicates an actual drum in all respects. The pad should muffle the sound without adversely affecting tonal quality. In addition, the pad must give a realistic "feel" that approaches an actual drumhead. Furthermore, the pad must be structurally stable and not prone to shifting. A variety of prior art drum practice pads have been developed which incorporate various compositions of felt or soft rubber, and which can be placed directly on a drum playing head or mounted separately.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,090 to Eagle shows a drum practice set including a pad that is constructed of a transparent plastic upper layer (e.g., LEXAN.TM.) and a resilient soft plastic or rubber lower layer (e.g., Neoprene.TM.) (see column 4, lines 1-19).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,047 to Oliveri shows a removable drum head noise reducer including a removable drumhead insert (see FIG. 4) filled with inner layers 22, 23 for muffling sound. The inner layers may be, e.g., Styrofoam.TM..
U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,973 to Hoshino shows a pad for an electronic drum including a sponge rubber buffer pad (FIG. 1, ref. 25).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,974 to Trankle shows a practice pad having a heavy layer of metal or the like sandwiched between two flat sheets of gum rubber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,235 to Le Masters shows a drum practice pad to be seated on a conventional drumhead for absorbing sound. This practice pad employs a leather layer and optional rubber layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,520 to Andrews shows a drum practice pad to be seated on a conventional drumhead. This practice pad employs a base portion and an upper layer of gum rubber.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,346,588 to Bower shows a practice pad having a layer of felt or the like covered by a thin plate of stiff material.
While the above-described prior art pads suggest a wide range of materials (e.g., leather, gum rubber, LEXAN, sponge rubber including Neoprene, Styrofoam, or the like), these pads have inherent shortcomings. The harder pad materials fail to effectively muffle the sound to an acceptable "practice" level. The softer pad materials alter the tonal quality and are not realistic. None of these pads give a realistic "feel", e.g., a response akin to that of an actual drumhead.
It would be greatly advantageous to develop a drum practice pad and method of construction thereof which realistically duplicates an actual drum in all respects. The improved pad should give a realistic "feel" which approaches that of an actual drumhead, and which muffles sound to an acceptable level without adversely affecting the tonal quality of the muffled sound. It would also be advantageous to provide a practice pad which can rest on existing drum heads for practice purposes, or which can be anchored to a base for mounting on any conventional stand, surface, or other position-holding fixture.